8 tips for recruiting with a small team and a limited budget

Not all companies have dozens of recruiters. Or an employer brand team. And a massive budget for the best new ATS.

The truth is that for the vast majority of companies, recruitment is usually the responsibility of some people who have a dozen other tasks to do. And yet, recruitment is more important than ever for these companies, because if a bad job can hurt a large company, it can ruin a smaller one.

So, how do you do that? How do you recruit effectively, even without a large team or a large budget?

Well, to answer this question, we organized a panel at Talent Connect Sydney, made up of recruiters who managed to find great talent despite a small budget. And what we got from this panel, as well as some related data on LinkedIn, were eight achievable offers that every small team can integrate.

1. Always remember that being small is your greatest asset

First, LinkedIn’s data shows that there is an inherent benefit to small business. After analyzing all the LinkedIn experts who changed jobs in 2014, we found that the likelihood of large firms leaving small businesses was greater than the opposite.

Better yet, people who left a job in a big business for a job in a small business earned less and more money because they wanted a stimulating job where they could make a difference:

People prefer to join small businesses

All this is great news for small recruiting teams and should help you inform your news. When creating your job postings, your employer brand, your e-mails and your interviews with candidates, consider having new people in your company, especially because they are small , can have a huge impact on the future of your business.

2. Be ready to strike fast
Senex Energy is an Australian-based energy company with approximately 180 employees that competes with large companies such as Exxon Mobile and BP. When Allan Waldron came to Canada in 2013 to help them recruit, he knew he had to use every tool to help him.

And one of those tools was speed.

Waldron thought he could have a lot of talent to come to Senex because he could give them a lot faster than his competitors. To do this, he would hire hiring managers early and conduct interviews with a handful of candidates (later) and offer them an offer before the competition.

“While most of our competitors are still in the recruitment process, we are already giving them a contract,” Waldron said.

3. Be strategic by engaging your own team
Katy Harris is head of recruitment for The Iconic, an Australian online fashion retailer with approximately 300 employees. The Iconic is a place where many fashionable people want to work, and whenever there is related work on this side of the business, there are many people to apply for .

So, Harris hired a junior recruiter to fill those positions because supply is not that difficult.

However, as an online company, The Iconic needs highly skilled technicians. And while fashionable people do the job at The Iconic, people interested in technology do not necessarily have the same passion for clothing.

As a result, these jobs become much more difficult to obtain. In response, Harris hired a senior recruiter to do all these internships.

This sounds obvious, but very logical: if you have a limited budget, you must be smart about how you spend it. By saving money on easier jobs, Harris could spend more on finding a senior recruiter who can fill much heavier positions.

4. focus on a few candidates; instead of a lot
At Senex, Waldron attaches great importance to quality and quantity when adjusting. Working with this philosophy, he does not prefer jobs in job offers and has no more than a hundred candidates. He prefers InMailing to a selection of some high quality people he really cares about.

“Instead of working with 100 candidates, I prefer to deal with a few people with whom I can really spend time,” Waldron said.

5. ATS is not a requirement
Waldron and Harris agreed that they did not want to spend a lot of money on an ATS. It was not even money, per se, they did not want such a complicated system.

Waldron has bought one to make it as simple as possible. Harris, on the other hand, saved money by putting in place a system that performed well enough for her internal development team (she felt she would only have to buy an ATS if The Iconic was extended to more than 500 employees).

The fact is that instead of spending money on a system they do not really need, Harris could use that budget to spend something that would help him directly. Which brings us to point six …

6. Whatever your size, the employer’s branding strategy will make your life easier
The Iconic is a mid-size company with no employer-branded team, and Harris has no marketing experience. Yet she knew that investing in the employer’s brand would help her recruit even if she did not know how to do it.

She met with the marketing director of The Iconic and asked for help in developing an employer branding strategy. The marketing director is engaged and The Iconic’s recruiting team quickly became active on LinkedIn and other social networks, publishing content that made the company more likeable and providing insight into what it means to work there. low.

What are the main results of this effort? Well, The Iconic now has over 11,000 LinkedIn subscribers, the Talent Brand Index has gone from 11 to 25%, and Harris has reduced its staff costs by 60%.

So, regardless of the size of the business, a strong employer brand will always help.

7. Get all your employees recruited
Harris and Waldron agreed that remittances – often referred to as the most reliable sources of great talent – are critical to recruitment, especially for small businesses. As a result, both focus on transfers within their company.

Harris focuses on The Iconic’s benchmark program, with a focus on internal marketing marketing for The Iconic employees and traditional branding by employers. It means giving content to employees and encouraging them to post jobs and refer people they know.

Waldron agreed, saying it was the perfect time to ask for recommendations during the integration. After getting a new job and feeling comfortable with his role, he will ask if she knows anyone else in the industry, hoping to get two employees for the price of one.

8. More importantly, a big name does not mean a good candidate
Last but not least, Harris and Waldron agreed that when recruiting, you need to pay attention to the type of people you need. For example, Waldron said long-time employees of major oil companies are often not suited to Senex because they have very specialized roles.

Because Senex is a small company, there is less specialization and people have to wear many hats. Although these candidates look good on paper, they are not right for Senex, Waldron said.

Harris agreed. Finding flexible people who can take on many roles may not be important in a large company, but in a small business, it’s important, she said.

“Hiring in a small business is very important,” Waldron said. “Because a bad rent can be devastating to the business, you need to make sure you know what you are looking for and that you are calling on the right people.”